


Welcome to Dragonvale

by Official_Night_Valian (TheWhitePaladin)



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: ...because dragons, Cecil is Inhuman, Cecil is a Night Fury, Dark!Earl, Dragons, M/M, OC radio co-host, OC scientists - Freeform, Scientist Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-05 13:37:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1820305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWhitePaladin/pseuds/Official_Night_Valian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragonvale is a small town in the desert of Arizona. It's been around for a long time and still holds claim to some of the most otherworldly phenomena Carlos the Scientist has ever laid eyes on.<br/>But when Carlos is abruptly stuck with a testy patient and a vengeful coworker, the scientist quickly learns that there are some things that are just not meant to messed with. Not only that, but he soon grows continuously more haunted by someone else's past. He knows that if things continue the way they are he will slowly but surely lose his mind, if he doesn't lose himself entirely in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> For Elyse.

There are certain places where things just...happen...and no one really questions it. Carlos was learning this the hard way. The scientist had heard of the town through possibly unreliable sources and for whatever reason he had earned funding for his expedition. He was currently driving by the sign, trying to force out of his mind that the eye with wings painted on the welcome sign had just blinked at him. The sandy road soon gave way to fresh pavement and a quaint little town. It looked like someplace that was friendly on the outside but broken when you started to look into people's personal lives. It also looked mildly primitive.

He was focusing on a sign for a pizza place when he was forced to slam on the break. Something had just...flown...in front if his car. He tried to lean out his window to get a good look at it but whatever it was was already long gone.

'Im losing my mind,' Carlos thought bitterly. 'Maybe this wasn't my best idea after all...'

He kept going to where his lab was located: right by Big Rico's Pizza. He unlocked it with the key that had been given to him by an ominously red note a few days before. Walking in, he was met with three other scientists and a nice place. Clean and a good work environment. He smiled to himself.

"Heyo, Carlos!" said one of the others who sported bright blue hair. "Welcome to the lab!" 

"Thanks," Carlos replied. "I'll just say that I didn't expect to get the funding for this whole thing."

"No kidding!" snarled a pink and red haired, incredibly pale scientist. "Can't say we expected-" 

"Stop it, Cherry!" the blue haired scientist interrupted. "The man only just got here!" 

"Whatever, Khoshei," Cherry retorted. "Сука."

Both of the other scientists gasped audibly.

"Cherry!" cried the last; a tall guy with blue hair a shade darker than Khoshei's which also included teal highlights. What was it with people's hair colors in this town? 

Cherry just flipped her hair, stuck earbuds in her ears, and continued whatever she was doing before Carlos had arrived.

"Don't mind Cherry," Koschei said. "You get used to her attitude. Ivan and I sure have."

Ivan must be the one with teal highlights. "Yes, well...I was told to see someone named Old Woman Josie?"

Koschei and Ivan shared a look, smirking. "Down the road to the right."

...

The lady's house was actually pretty nice, considering it was the size of a large trailer at best. Carlos knocked timidly. He was greeted with the sight of an old woman carrying a small...something...in her arms.

"Hi," Carlos began. "I'm-" 

"-Carlos the Scientist. Yes, I know who you are, boy. Come in, come in."

He followed her into her home, catching a glimpse of the thing she was holding. He would have thought it was a cat if not for the flexible spines on it's back or the fact that it was green and orange. She caught him eying it.

"Ah, I see you've noticed Cracker."

"Cracker?"

"Yes, dear. She's my baby dragon."

"D-dragon?"

Josie took on a look that was almost pity. "Ooh, no one's told you yet."

"Told me what?"

Josie smiled, gesturing him to sit. "This town, dear boy, is called Dragonvale for a reason. You see, when it was first founded, people were still living with dragons. Those in the outside world became corrupt and abusive toward their dragons, so we are the only city in the US who still house the creatures. We have allowed them a safe house. Everyone in this town either is or owns a dragon. Those who are fortunate enough to be dragons can shift from dragon to human at will. Although, when human, they retain dragon-like features like tails, wings and sharp faces. You can tell whether someone is a dragon or not, believe me.

"Those who are not dragons will normally find a dragon who wishes to be owned and they will create a bond loyalty. But if a dragon does not wish to be owned, it's a very bad idea to attempt it."

Josie took a deep breath. "There is one dragon, however, who did not start out that way. He was actually born a human but, no one knows exactly how, he was transformed into a dragon. He kept his old job at the radio station...but...only his intern, Titan, has seen him more than once every half a year. No one knows how or where he hides so well but when he is glimpsed, he's absolutely magnificent. Beautiful black and purple scales with blazing purple eyes and a green one on his forehead above the other two. 

"Rumor has it that he loves his job with a passion but he is ashamed of how he looks in human form so he only broadcasts once every other week. Otherwise it's Titan relaying the news to us."

Carlos was silent. Then, "y-you're telling me there are dragons in this town?"

"Yes, dear. Haven't you been listening? If you're overwhelmed by dragons there's no way you'll survive for over a week here."

Carlos blinked. "That...radio dragon...you mentioned...what kind of dragon is he?"

Josie got a faraway look on her face. "There are many names for him. Some call him The Elusive One and The Radio Host. But I think his real dragon name originated from the original name this town had before the dragons: Night Vale. Lots of nicknames stem from his hatred of himself, which is why he avoids mirrors. He is embarrassed to see himself. He can get quite angry when you point it out to him.

"But he does not breathe fire. That's something you should never, ever bring up around him. He's very self conscious as it is."

"What does he breathe, if not fire?"

"He shoots precise blasts of brilliant violet plasma. He never misses, so don't get on his bad side."

"I won't if I ever even see him," Carlos replied. He found himself dazedly staring around the room. Josie had a lot of posters saying things like "Guns don't kill people," "mountains aren't real" and "they're stalagmites, yo!" 

"Oh, I wish you could see him," Josie said in a soft voice. "I think you two would get along nicely. I have only seen him once but it was so gorgeous."

"I'll keep an eye out for him."

"And, as I don't think I mentioned before I got a bit sidetracked, his dragon name is Night Fury, due to his emotion toward himself and town heritage."

"Night Fury," Carlos muttered to himself. It had a very nice ring to it. He looked at his watch and gasped, as he was running a bit late. Apparently there was a very strict curfew in this town. "My apologies, Josie," he said. "But I need to be going. It's almost like time sped up for a while!"

Josie's eyes took on a knowing glint. "Time flies when you're having fun, I suppose, dear."

Carlos laughed. "Yeah, it does." Before he stepped outside and closed the door though, he looked back, "Josie..."

"Yes, boy?"

"The Night Fury...does he have a name? I-I mean...his human self?"

Josie closed her eyes, nodding slowly. 

"His name is Cecil."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Сука (Suka): Russian - "bitch"  
> Koschei (KOH-shay): Galafrayan  
> Cracker: named after a rooster who used to live on my road.
> 
> I miss that rooster.


	2. Hello, listeners.

Cecil.

The name kept repeating in Carlos's mind like a heartbeat. Cecil. Cecil. Cecil. He just loved the sound of it. He began to try and imagine what Cecil looked like as a Night Fury. Maybe he had a wingspan of 10 feet and his scales glowed in the moonlight and he had those eyes that you could just get lost in and-

-...hang on, wait. What? Why the heck was he so infatuated with a dragon, of all things? He'd only just heard about it for god's sake! Aside from that, there was no way he would see Cecil, if the Radio Dragon was as elusive as Josie had told him. 

"Carlos? Carlos!"

The scientist almost dropped the instrument he was holding when Cherry slapped him across the face.

"Ahh...what was that for?" he growled at her, massaging his sore cheek.

Cherry just huffed. "I've never seen such a faraway look in anyone's eyes since I escaped the Compound. I mean, seriously, boy! Get yourself together!"

Although Carlos didn't like the tone Cherry had, he sighed slowly and didn't mention it. "Sorry. I'm just...distracted."

"You're tellin' me."

"Josie told me about a dragon that...I think I'm going to go and find."

Cherry's eyes widened. "Y-you don't mean the Night Fury?"

Carlos nodded.

Suddenly Cherry's eyes grew dark and it almost seemed like she was baring her teeth like a cat. "You'll never find him! He's too elusive and knows exactly where to hide! If he does find you, though, you better run! I hope you know how to run fast because that dragon never misses!!" At this point she was practically screaming in Carlos's face. He took a few steps back. "Do you really want to end up like-"

"Cherry!! That's enough!" a voice called out.

Cherry stopped her string of Russian insults that Carlos was positive were aimed toward him and stepped back. As he looked closer he realized she had tears in her eyes. She blinked and a few fell down her face, although she feigned scratching her cheek to try in vain to hide them. She took one last furious look at Carlos before stalking off.

"I'm really sorry about that, Carlos," Ivan said. He walked up to the disgruntled scientist, brushing him off a bit. "Ah...you should probably refrain from bringing the Night Fury up into conversation around her."

"Yeah, I figured..." Carlos muttered quietly, still mildly shaken up.

"Listen, it's not your fault. It's just that..." Ivan's eyes grew sad. "We...had a scientist before you who tried to go after that dragon. He found him, but...didn't survive to tell about it. The Night Fury blasted him down with one shot and the man had no chance whatsoever."

"Why is Cherry so upset about it, still? I mean, you don't seem to shaken by it, anyway."

"He and Cherry were a thing. They loved each other like nothing else. When he died was when Cherry began acting so hostile. She used to be so lovely to be around...but you can't blame her. If you discovered the burnt remains of someone you really cared for just lying helpless in the sand wastes you'd be pretty angry at the world as well."

Carlos was silent. There really wasn't too much to say to that. But, as his grandmother had always told him, actions speak louder than words. "Where is she now?"

"Probably in her room. But what-"

Ivan couldn't finish his sentence before Carlos was gone in the direction of Cherry's room. He didn't bother knocking, as he knew she'd never just let him in. Instead he slowly opened the door, trying his best to make no sudden movements. "Cherry?" he said softly.

She was sitting on the other side of her bed, back facing him and he saw she was holding a picture frame. The man in the picture didn't look half bad. He was tall and had jet black hair and dark green eyes. He had his arm wrapped around what Carlos assumed was a younger Cherry. Or at least, she looked younger. The date on the picture was only about 2 years before.

He was in awe at what Cherry looked like when she smiled. She was beautiful. Her hair was a lighter shade of pink, almost bubblegum. Her eyes were a brilliant, shining neon green and her smile seemed to light up the entire photo.

The Cherry sitting on the bed whipped her head around to face Carlos. She looked like a complete wreck. Her eyes were no longer bright and her hair just fell in front of her face sullenly. Her cheeks were tearstained and she looked so sad. Older, too. 

"What do you want?" she spat.

Carlos slowly sat next to her. To his surprise, she didn't back away. "Hey," he said quietly. "I...I'm sorry, Cherry. I really didn't know. If I did I wouldn't have brought it up."

Cherry looked like she was about to say something, but before she could, she covered her mouth with her hand and leaned over to rest her body on Carlos's, her body shaking. He put an arm around her gently and held onto her as sobs racked her body.

...

Carlos was walking down the small street his lab was located on, getting some well overdue fresh air. Everyone he passed smiled and greeted him, making him feel very welcome. He passed a few dragons on the way, but he figured no matter how long he stayed in this town he would never grow used to it. He made his way to Big Rico's, since part of the letter he received before he arrived claimed that you had to eat there once every week or suffer...dire consequences. Given that no explanation was given, Carlos assumed no explanation was needed and he would do well to obey that order. 

As he sat down and ordered, he found himself listening to the radio. The voice giving the announcements sounded like someone who couldn't be over 20 years old, and soon heard himself say his name was Titan. So that must be the radio cohost.

"And now, listeners," Titan went on. "I have someone here in the studio whom most of you know. I say most because I have been informed that a certain scientist has come to town. He looks quite perfect, if you ask me."

Carlos felt every human and dragon eye on him and he felt quite trapped as he stared at the radio.

"Anyway," Titan went on. "Sorry about that. Got a little sidetracked. As I was saying, I have someone in the studio. Ah-would you like to say something to your town?"

'Your' town? Was this guy the mayor or something?

"Hello, listeners."

Everything in the restaurant stopped. You could hear a pin drop. But that's not what Carlos was focusing on. That voice...it was so deep. Soothing. Carlos found him wanting to hear more of it and desperately begged in his mind for the man to continue speaking. 

"I...I note that I have been late in speaking with you, as I could not last week due to some personal reasons. But I am still here, as I have always been, watching the town. Keeping you all safe."

The man went on saying how he had discovered a floating cat in the men's restroom as he arrived to the station and how yet another intern was gone. Carlos had been told they tend to drop like flies. A few more news segments and they went to the weather which was just a punk rock song that confused Carlos but, he was already out the door before it ended. He'd eaten two slices of pizza so he assumed and hoped that would suffice for his "weekly payment." 

He ran to the radio station, truly hoping to catch the man with that voice. But as he arrived he bumped into a shorter man who had bright green and purple streaked hair. They both fell to the floor. The other man got up first, surprisingly fast, and helped Carlos up.

"My apologies," he said. 

'So,' Carlos thought. 'This is Titan.'

Titan smiled. "I-uh-wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry."

"No, no it was my fault," Carlos countered him. "I was the one rushing in here."

"Ah, yes. What was it you needed? Normally people don't barge into a community radio station without reason."

Carlos chuckled at that. "I was hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever that other man was on the radio today."

Titan's smile disappeared. "Ahh..." he said slowly. "I see. You're not the only one who wants to. Many others have tried. If you wish, you can try and catch him. The broadcast ends in a minute or less. He leaves through the back, but I wouldn't expect much, science boy."

Carlos rushed toward the neon ON AIR sign, as he figured he should start there. It was as good a place as any. But he was too late, seeing as it was empty. He looked toward the back, where the bathrooms were located, and saw a shadow on the wall of what looked to be a man with wings. The voice on the radio!

He ran after him as the shadow looked as though it had seen something following him. The man was unbelievably fast and Carlos realized he had no idea how to navigate this place. If this was who Carlos thought it was, he had no hope of catching him. So, he did the only thing he could think of doing at that moment.

He quickly snatched a wire wrapped on the wall. The sign above it said SPARE. He looped the wire as he ran through the impossibly big building and threw it as hard as he could in the direction of the shadow. It looked as though whatever it was had just leapt from the ground and was flapping enormous wings. The wire caught one of them and Carlos heard the creature cry out in pain and saw the shadow's wings beat harder to attempt to dislodge to object. Carlos struggled to hold on, as he didn't expect the thing to be so strong.

He felt the wire in his grip begin to be pulled out of his hands and clung to it with everything he had. But it was in vain. The wire was ripped from his fingers, throwing him forward and onto the ground. The creature flew off, but as Carlos watched his silhouette, he saw that it was flying lopsided with the wire hanging from one of its wings. It wasn't moving nearly as fast now, so Carlos got up and sped off after it on foot.

The creature didn't get far, but he knew how to try and throw someone off his tail. In this case, it would be a literal statement, seeing as he had a long tail protruding from his backside. Carlos was running out of breath and energy and watched as the thing turned to face him in midair. It's mouth opened and Carlos struggled to dodge the blast of something hot it sent his way. The creature cried out and plummeted to the ground right in what looked to be a dip in the ground.

Carlos slowly propped himself up on his elbows, anticipating another attack. He nudged his way over to the burnt patch of sand, and realized that it was not fire that had been aimed at him.

It was violet plasma.


	3. The Night Fury

Carlos clumsily stood on the hot sand, wishing he hadn't worn both his flannel shirt and lab coat. He slowly made his way to the dip in the ground where the beast had fallen, sliding across army style. He peered down over the edge and gasped at what he saw.

Lying on the ground was a massive being. Black scales with purple tints, a wingspan of at least 20 feet, entire body glowing with the aftermath of attempting to blow Carlos to smithereens with plasma and three eyes, two purple and one green, staring up at him. The dragon was lying with one wing tangled in the wire Carlos had thrown and it was bent at an odd angle. Unlike the other folded wing this one was just hanging limp on the ground. Carlos had a bad feeling it was broken somewhere. The dragon itself was huge; much bigger than Carlos had ever anticipated. His mouth was full of teeth and his head was a sort of flat spade shape. His tail was wrapped around pawlike feet that sported sharp claws.

It didn't look very happy with the scientist right now.

'Maybe this was a bad idea...' Carlos thought, just at the last moment. He attempted to push himself off the ground but the sand gave way under him. He half slid, half rolled painfully down the slope and was stopped when his body rammed into the dragon's. The beast snarled harshly and tried to move away from him. But its broken wing seemed to be too painful, as it cried out in pain and tried to move the appendage. Carlos, as he backed away, noticed that the wing was snapped in one area. One part of the bone went one way, one went the other.

Right in the middle of the split, the wire was wrapped tightly around the delicate skin. Carlos was immediately concerned, and very gently stood. He reached his hand out, trying not to look threatening. Not that it would've done much anyway, seeing as he was the one who caused this entire thing in the first place. Turns out, his intuition served him well. He had to backtrack to avoid his arm being torn off by long teeth. The creature hissed at him, turned tail, and began to walk the other direction away from town.

"Hey!" Carlos called after it. The dragon stopped, ears perking up. It turned its head only so far as to be able to see Carlos out of its outer vision. 

"Are-are you..."

The dragon's eyes narrowed.

"A Night Fury?"

Carlos watched as the dragon began to shimmer in the light. It had the same effect as when you would see heat radiating off hot pavement. The body grew slimmer, the head shape reformed to look smaller and more angular. The hing legs grew longer, forelegs as well but shorter than the hind legs. Carlos saw the hindpaws turn into feet and the forepaws morph into hands. The "dragon" stood, and the scientist found himself looking at a man with a dragon tail and wings, sharp violet and green eyes, silver-white hair and tattoos covering his arms and neck. A few patches of scales were still visible on his face and neck and his face was pointed. He had otherwise smooth skin and a small goatee and the most furious look Carlos had ever seen on any face.

"How...dare...you..." the man snarled. He had the same low voice as on the radio but now it was scratchy from fatigue. His tongue was purple and still glowed with plasma. "...speak that name...in my presence!!"

At the last word he attempted to lunge for Carlos, but the moment one foot left the ground the man screamed in agony, clutching his broken wing. The wire was still wrapped around it, mind you. 

"My-my wing!!" he screeched. "What have you done to my wing?!"

"I-..." Carlos didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound completely idiotic. "I..."

"You hooked my wing with an electrical wire! You-you snapped my wing in ha-aaghh!"

Every movement seemed to cause the "dragon" pain. 

"Ok-uh...just stop moving!" Carlos cried, rushing forward to do whatever he could to help. 

"Don't touch me!" the man snapped. "Don't come any closer! You're the only reason we're in this mess!"

"I know, I know and I'm sorry!" Carlos replied. He couldn't believe the damage he'd done. Now the beast was probably going to shoot him down on the spot and he'd end up like Cherry's boyfriend. "Just...just let me see-"

"No!" 

The man rose up and pushed off the ground with his feet and even through his pants Carlos could see muscles shoving him upward. He flapped his wings once but crashed to the ground with yet another howl of pain as his injured wing tried to keep him up. Carlos crawled toward him, making himself look as least menacing as he possibly could. "Hey..." he said softly.

The beast was panting heavily and still had a look of defiance and anger in his eyes. It looked as though he was ready to bolt, and Carlos knew that if he could he certainly would have already. But that was the problem; both he and the Night Fury knew that flying was no longer an option.

"Please..." Carlos went on, whispering now. He knew the Night Fury's ears could still pick up what he was saying. "Just let me help you. Let me make it up to you."

Purple and green eyes narrowed, scrutinizing. He looked Carlos up and down and the scientist watched as the fight visibly left the dragon-man in one sharp sigh. His body seemed to simply melt into the ground and he looked so defeated that the guilt Carlos felt hit him like a brick. He'd basically shot this creature down, snapping his wing almost in half and cutting off his ability to get anywhere...and for what? To get a good glimpse at him?

Carlos sat down next to the Night Fury, lying in the sand. They kept their distance from one another, but Carlos could have sworn he saw the dragon catching quick glances at him. It almost seemed as though he was focusing on his hair...

"So...now what?" the Night Fury asked. "I can't fly and we certainly can't walk the distance back to town. And anyway, I don't want to be seen."

"Why?" Carlos dared to ask.

The dragon glanced at him again. "You shot me down and you have the audacity to ask why I make decisions?"

"I...no, I guess you're right. But we can't just leave you here. Or me, for that matter."

"I live out here, boy. Probably should have thought of this before you lassoed my body down."

"I didn't think it was going to damage your wing as much as it did!"

Purple and green eyes seemed to stare a hole in the back of Carlos's head. "Do you know nothing about dragons? Our wing-bones are incredibly fragile."

"Yeah, I got that." Carlos turned back to look at the creature. The sun was glinting off his remaining scales just right and for a moment it seemed he's was looking at simply a human with a tail and wings. The entity looked quite beautiful, if Carlos was to admit anything. He was rendered speechless, though, by the sheer weight of the fact that he was looking into the very eyes of Cecil the Night Fury; a dragon that people only just heard on the radio and glimpsed once every six months if they were lucky...and here they were side by side.

"What're you staring at, science man?" Cecil questioned. Carlos could have bet his entire salary there was an air of playfulness around that question but he wasn't about to think too much into it.

"Y-you..." he sputtered. Oh, real smooth. "I-I mean...you're so beautiful. Everything about you is-"

"Enough."

"No, really! I think you-"

"Enough!!"

The intensity of the command startled Carlos momentarily.

"I am not beautiful, Carlos the scientist!! I'm a monster. An inhuman, scaley, winged monster who should have nothing to do with humans such as yourself."

They were both silent for a few moments. Then, Carlos heard Cecil slowly kneel, grunting in pain as he did so. It was a wonder that he wasn't in tears from the agony he must be feeling in his wing. Carlos noticed that there was now blood on it and bone was just barely visible. Cecil looked at him directly in the eyes.

"I'm not perfect like you are."


	4. Perfect Carlos.

"I-...I- what?"

Cecil looked back to Carlos. "I said I'm not perfect like you are, Carlos the Scientist. I would suggest listening when people speak to you."

Carlos stood to meet Cecil's eyes. Well...he tried. He was still a good foot shorter than the half-dragon. "Perfect?" A sudden bout of laughter shook his body. "I'm standing in front of the most well-known and yet least-seen dragon in this town and he's telling me I'm perfect. This is something I just can't believe."

"But you are."

"How? How am I so perfect, oh wise one?" Carlos grinned, crossing his arms dramatically.

Cecil frowned. "I'll have you know the wise one does not even know I exist. Therefore it is blasphemy to say I am the wise one. But nevertheless, you are perfect because you are untainted."

Carlos's smile began to fade. "...untainted?"

"Precisely."

"How do you mean?"

Cecil looked to the sandy ground. "Look at me, Carlos. Tell me what you see."

"I see a man."

"...and?"

"I see a man who is broken on the inside. He is trapped in his own body. All he wants is to go back to seeing himself as he was." Wow. When the heck did Carlos get so poetic?

Cecil was staring at him with wide eyes. "N-no! I am no man!"

Carlos frowned. "Then are you...really a woman?"

"No, no, no!" Cecil growled, growing frustrated. "I am not a man! I am a monster! I had a curse put upon me, making me a dragon. I've tried everything I could think of, just trying to fix it but nothing has worked. I even went so far as to try that whole true love's kiss biz. But either he and I didn't really love each other or the curse isn't a fairytale one. But, I suppose, neither is my story. I'm not a fair princess who can be rescued in her tower by some brave prince who is willing to risk everything in order to save his beloved. I am the dragon who keeps watch over her and tortures her. Don't you see, Carlos? I could never be perfect like you because every time I happen to glance in a mirror I see pain and sorrow reflected."

Carlos was stunned by Cecil's speech. "But...have you even seen yourself?"

"Yes, science man. I have. And I do not like what I see."

Carlos could only do one thing. He made his way forward before he could change his mind and wrapped his arms around Cecil as much as he could around the wings. He heard Cecil's intake of breath, feeling every muscle in Cecil's body tense. 

"Wh-what are-"

"You looked like you needed a hug."

They were both still and silent for a few moments. Then Cecil roughly shoved Carlos away from him. "Stay away from me, boy. If you know what's good for you, you won't follow me."

Carlos watched as Cecil turned back and began slowly and painfully limping away. 

"Well obviously I have poor judgement because I'm' not just going to leave you like this, Cecil!" he called, running after the dragon. 

Cecil lashed out with clawed fingers. "I do not wish to hurt you, Carlos! I much less want to scar your beautiful face but I don't wish to be followed. I have been hiding in secret and I want it to stay that way."

"But why? You look so magnificent! ...where do you even live anyway?"

"Out here in the open wilderness." Cecil was still walking away and Carlos was still trailing him. "I live where I want to. I come back to my town every once and again if not to simply prove I am still among the living. I trust Titan to take care of my station for me." Cecil's tone grew sad. "That station used to be my home away from home. I miss going there every day so much."

"You don't have to be afraid, Cecil."

"And yet I am, as you should also be." Cecil stopped walking. He held tightly to his wing, which was now bleeding a bit more profusely. Carlos ran up to him, no longer fearing he would be blasted into next Thursday.

"Cecil, you can't leave that to bleed and never mend. Please come back with me. Even if you want to hide away in my room at the lab where no one can see or find you. This can't go on. You need to have your wing healed properly if you ever want to fly or go anywhere ever again."

Cecil looked as though he were contemplating Carlos's offer. After about a minute or so, he looked down, and Carlos knew he had succeeded. 

"As long as no one will see me," Cecil muttered.

...

The trek back was long and painful for both of them. Cecil's wing was now just dragging sadly on the ground, unable to be kept folded in place like his other one. It was leaving a small blood trail, although, to Carlos's relief, the flow of red liquid seemed to be stopping. Without warning, however, Cecil had pitched forward. He was growing incredibly pale and panting ever so slightly. Now there were tears in his eyes and his lips were dry and cracked.

"We have to get you to the lab, but there's no way we'll be able to make it in time," Carlos said, looking at the ever-present moon and appearing stars. 

Cecil coughed weakly. "Just...leave me here, then. I'm not good for this town anymore anyway."

"Shut up," Carlos hissed. "You are good to this town, and you'll do good to remember it."

"If not for you, I'd be flying over the sand wastes looking for food right about now."

Carlos frowned. "Can we not bring that up right now and just focus on healing you, please?"

Before either of them could move, however, they heard rustling coming from one of the nearby dry bushes. Cecil instantly turned his head toward the sound, eyes wide. He sniffed.

"Jackalope."

"Huh?"

"Food."

Carlos saw Cecil's body emit that heat-glow again and morph into his Night Fury form once more. It never ceased to amaze. Cecil began to stalk forward slowly, catlike, eyes trained on his dinner. The animal sped out from its hiding spot and was instantly pursued by the massive dragon. Cecil shot a ball of plasma at the creature and it fell to the ground, killed instantly. It's entire body was singed. Carlos tried his best not to imagine that animal instead being the body of a man with black hair and now lifeless green eyes. 

He watched Cecil eat, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't both awed and grossed out by it at the same time. Once Cecil was finished, he transformed back into a human to accommodate for Carlos's size, as he was forced to lean on the scientist to reduce pain as much as possible. They made it to city limits.

"My lab is right next to Big Rico's."

"I know."

"So-...wait, how do you know?"

Cecil's third eye rounded on Carlos with his other two normal eyes keeping straight ahead. "My eye sees everything, Carlos."

"Really?"

"Yes. But, as outsiders say, that is a conversation for another rainy day. Can we please just stay out of sight and get to your lab? I'm sure the Sheriff's Secret Police and their Patrol Dragons won't be happy seeing you out of your home after curfew."

Crap. Carlos had completely forgotten about curfew.

"Don't worry," Cecil went on, reading Carlos's expression. "I have an idea."

He went back to dragon form, and signaled Carlos to crouch under his wing. Once they were situated and as comfortable as they could get, they inched forward into the heart of town. Cecil's skin and scales were completely black, save for dark patches of deep purple. With Carlos hiding under his massive wing, they went by unseen. Carlos was surprised to see no patrol officers or their dragons, but remembered overhearing a conversation on the street that they hid in bushes and shrubbery and anything they could fit behind.

Some "secret" police. Not that he'd say that out loud, of course.

They reached his lab and they quickly sped around back to the big garage door where Carlos was sure Cecil would fit better than the front door. He opened it as quietly as he could and he and Cecil managed to clamber in, with only a few grunts of pain from the dragon when his wing hit the side of the garage. 

Carlos searched the room for anything he could find to wrap Cecil's wing. He found a roll of gauze and a stapler in a drawer, and went back over to the now human Cecil, who was stroking his injured wing. Carlos removed the wire around it as best he could without causing any more pain.

"Why didn't you just do that before?" Cecil whispered.

"Because of this," Carlos whispered back, indicating that, indeed, once the wire had been removed from the impact wound blood had begun to flow again. "You were already bleeding enough." 

He wrapped the gauze tightly around the entire wing section that the wound covered, and very gently stapled the end to itself. He looked to Cecil.

"You'll be safe here until tomorrow evening. My co-scientists arrive through the front door and they walk. They hardly ever go in here since it's mostly all my stuff as I live upstairs from the lab. So if you need anything, tap the ceiling here. It's right under my room."

"And if your colleagues find me?"

"They won't."

"If they do?"

"Just have them call me."

Cecil looked uncertain.

"Trust me, Cecil,"

"After you lassoed and broke my wing, not likely."

"Fair point." Carlos opened the door to his lab. "Goodnight, Cecil."

As he closed the door, he heard Cecil curl up for the night, nursing his wing. "Goodnight, perfect Carlos. Goodnight."


	5. He Dreamt of Flying.

Cecil yawned. He had morphed back into his dragon form once he fell asleep and had only gotten about an hour of rest. His eyes opened slowly. He stretched like a cat, only to gain a painful reminder of his injured wing. He snarled in pain, mentally cursing that scientist with his hair. Cecil both loved and hated that hair in equal measure. Before he could have a second thought about it, however, he heard a small bump on the garage door. He froze, straining his ears to listen for anything else.

He heard the latch on the outside of the door begin to be broken. He reared up on his hind legs, going to human form to be tall enough, and rapped sharply on the ceiling.

'Please, Carlos,' he thought almost reluctantly. 'Please...'

...

Tap, tap, tap.

Carlos shifted in his sleep.

Tap, tap, tap.

Carlos groaned in his sleep.

Tap, tap, tap.

Carlos awoke from sleep.

Silence.

Carlos was just about to fall back asleep when he remembered the tapping and shot up at a 90 degree angle. Cecil! Carlos quickly ran downstairs, only in thin pajama pants and a shirt that said "I make science puns but only periodically" and yanked the garage door open. He was immediately almost knocked over by the injured dragon who was attempting his best to get away from the garage door that was now being pulled up bit by bit. Cecil got close to Carlos's ear.

"She smells like you..."

"How do you know it's a 'she'?" Carlos retorted. 

"Listen."

Indeed, as Carlos listened, he heard faint grunts that belonged to a woman. Cecil claiming that she smelled like Carlos could only mean one thing.

"Cecil..." Carlos whispered, trying his best to keep calm. Cecil could hear that in his voice. "Get inside. Now."

"Who-"

"Please, Cecil. Just do it."

Cecil didn't object. If the situation had been different he probably would have disobeyed. He scrambled into Carlos's lab/home and found a nice hiding spot under a low table. He had to stay in human form to be able to fit. It probably wasn't the best idea to hide there but he was panicking slightly and had no other option. 

Back in the garage, Carlos had picked up a crowbar he'd found against the wall and was bracing himself for when the door opened enough for whoever it was to crawl in and put the door back down. They turned around and Carlos came face to face with a certain pink-haired scientist.

"Cherry?"

"Hey, Carlos."

"Wh-what're you doing here?! You can't let them catch you after curfew!"

"I know, I know. That's why I didn't let them see me."

"Why are you here, anyway?"

Cherry leaned back against the garage door. "I...I wanted to apologize for earlier. It's been nagging at me for a while and I wanted to let you know that I didn't mean what I said. The memories are just a bit too much like a fresh scar at the moment."

"I get it," Carlos replied, setting the crowbar aside. "I know. I'm sorry, too. I realize now that the Night Fury's a bit of a touchy subject for everyone in this town." He didn't care to say Cecil's name, for fear that Cherry would spread it. It's not that he didn't trust her, it was just that he had a gut feeling that it would be a bad thing if the name got out.

"You got that right, science man."

Cherry walked forward and enveloped Carlos in a soft hug. They embraced for a moment then stepped back, Carlos rubbing his neck and Cherry laughing awkwardly.

"Hey, Carlos..." she began.

"Yeah?"

"Listen...it was hard enough avoiding the SSP and their Patrol Dragons on the way here. What say I hang the night? All I need is a bed to sleep in and when curfew's up I'll be out of your hair."

Cecil.

"Ahh," Carlos began, not really sure how to answer. "I...I guess that'd be alright..."

"I know it's really short notice and why would you accept with the way I've treated you lately but I promise all I need is a place to sleep. I'll even sleep out her if you need me to."

"No, no, it's fine," Carlos said. "I have a spare room for you. It's right next to my room on the top floor straight to your left."

"Thanks, scientist boy."

Cherry made her way past him and headed upstairs. Or, at least that's what Carlos was hoping would happen. But he should've known something would go wrong.

Cherry popped her head out of the door again. "Yo, Car?"

"Yeah?"

"What exactly is on your floor?"

Carlos frowned, following her inside. She led him to a table that sat low to the ground.

"Huh," she said. "I could have bet any amount of money that there was a tail lying here." She bent down to look under it. "Nothing. Must have just been my imagination." She stood, patting Carlos on the shoulder. "Well, sorry to bother you further, big guy. See you in the morning if you're up early enough."

She walked upstairs, and Carlos let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. That was incredibly close; too close for comfort. But now he had the task of finding Cecil. He knew the tail had belonged to him and mentally chastised the dragon for picking such an obvious hiding spot. At least it appeared that the table was wide enough to accommodate the length of his wings. 

"Cecil?" Carlos whispered.

"Up here."

Carlos looked up to see a man with wings and a long tail perched on top of his bookshelf that was filled with books only City Council had approved. Thank goodness that Cecil's scales were black or Cherry may have seen him up there.

"Is she really gone?"

"Yeah. Get down here."

Carlos watched as Cecil quite gracefully made his way to the floor. "You said they came through the front door!" Cecil whisper-yelled at Carlos. 

"Well I also said they only come here during the day and this was certainly a surprise," Carlos whisper-yelled back. 

"So now what? I can't stay in your garage anymore because if someone broke in again Cherry would hear tapping on her floor."

"Uhhh..." Carlos didn't really want it to resort to this, but he figured it was his best option. "Follow me."

Cecil followed Carlos stealthily up the stairs and to the second door on the left, being sure to be silent. Carlos pointed to a corner of his room that contained a large empty spot on the floor. "You can stay here."

Cecil was left speechless. "Here? A dragon in your room."

"You aren't just a dragon, Cec."

Carlos left Cecil to blush and climbed into his bed. "Now are you going to sleep or are we going to argue all night about whether you're a dragon at heart or not like they do in movies?"

Cecil shook his head, walking over to the spot on the floor. He circled it a few times, and, when deciding it was comfortable enough, let his body flop to the floor. He curled his long, somewhat feathered tail over his feet and looped it to act as a pillow. It didn't look like a very effective pillow, so Carlos tossed Cecil an actual one. Cecil put it under his head, looking much more content. Carlos also threw him a spare blanket. 

Cecil looked up. "Why are you doing all of this for me?"

"You have an injured wing, Cecil."

Cecil's three eyes focused on Carlos and narrowed. "I have a feeling it's more than that, Mr. Scientist."

Carlos stayed silent before clapping his hands twice, switching the lights off. He fell back onto his own pillows, sighing. "It might be."

He heard Cecil just chuckle softly. "I'll press the matter later."

They were silent for minutes on end and, if not for Cecil's unsteady breathing, Carlos would have thought him asleep.

"Carlos..."

"Yeah, Cec?"

"I...thank you...for...all of this. Doing all of this for me."

"It's really nothing, Cecil."

Silence. Then, "I normally try to avoid being seen but...for you I think I'll make an exception."

Carlos laughed gently. "Thank's buddy."

"You're not half bad, science man. Turns out you may just be perfect."

"Ahh, so you're proving yourself right."

"I'm never wrong."

Carlos fell asleep for the second time that night to the sound of a low grunt as Cecil morphed back into a dragon and let himself get lost in the grip of sleep. He dreamt of flying.


	6. Sandstorm

The pain Cecil was feeling can't be described in words. He awoke in the morning to an empty room and a note by his head.

'Cecil~  
I get up early for work. Just stay in my room for now and I'll check on you periodically. Ha. Science pun. Don't worry those don't happen very often. Anyway, excuse that. My colleagues will be banging around down here but they aren't stupid enough to come in my room. I'm not sure what medication a dragon needs but I left some painkillers for you. Don't take more than it says to though, Cec.  
~Carlos'

Cecil searched for the promised painkillers, finding them and transforming to a human to take three. He figured it wouldn't do much, but he also knew it was the thought that counts. Right now, that thought was that Carlos wanted to help care for him. The idea made Cecil smile softly. He was aware that, around this town, people thought him to be pretty impersonal, considering how he stayed hidden. But just because he was part dragon didn't mean he was incapable of love or emotions.

He stayed hidden because he was scared. He was terrified that one day, people would see him how he saw himself; someone who was not to be trusted and fear would be the only thing to save you. Cecil didn't want to be feared. He wanted...he wanted Carlos. That was it. Plain and simple.

Carlos the Scientist with his perfect and beautiful hair and teeth...the way he smiled made Cecil feel like he was melting. It also made him feel like flying. But that was quite impossible now that his wing was cracked in half. Speaking of which, the agony was killing him. That statement was probably literal at this point. He had bled through the gauze Carlos had applied a little bit and yet was reluctant to remove it; it would just start bleeding again. He would wait calmly for Carlos to return and change it and possibly request something to eat.

...

"Cecil, you are so lucky you chose to have a freakout during my coworkers' lunch break. They're all at Big Rico's right now."

Waiting calmly hadn't really gone to plan. 

"I truly am sorry, Carlos," Cecil muttered, ashamed for not being able to keep control. "I...I guess I have claustrophobia."

"I'll say," Carlos replied, carefully picking up glass off the floor from a shattered picture frame. Luckily the picture, which was of Carlos on graduation day from a college of science in the north, was undamaged. It was one of his favorites. He looked to Cecil. "I'm not angry with you."

Cecil peeked out from where he was hiding behind his wings. "Y-you're not?"

"Why should I be?"

"I broke things of yours and made a mess."

"A lot of those things can be replaced."

"We'll, unless they decide to hop into another dimension, as that does happen."

Carlos just decided to let that one go. He stared at Cecil as the Night Fury slowly hid himself with his wings again. The scientist saw his shoulders shaking a bit, and it was then revealed to him that dragons were capable of crying. 

"Hey," he said, stroking the thin, delicate skin of the uninjured wing. "Hey, it's okay."

"H-how?" Cecil's bloodstained eye came into view. The one on his forehead was closed and the second was hidden by the wing Carlos had recently rebandaged. Judging by the dark violet tearstains on Cecil's cheeks, Carlos realized that the dragon cried purple. That was new.

"You really didn't do as much damage as you think you did. But I have an idea," Carlos said. He took Cecil's hand, grinning at the bold blush that blossomed on his face, and led him back to the garage. Once they got there, Carlos closed the garage door and turned back to Cecil. "I only wanted to keep you in my room during the day because of the air conditioning, but I think you'll do alright out here, yeah?"

Cecil ducked his head. "Yes, Carlos. I should be okay."

"Alright."

Carlos wrapped Cecil in a tight hug around the wings and felt Cecil lean into him. "Are you sure you're not mad?"

"Yes, Cecil. I promise."

Cecil sighed contentedly, and it would be a lie to say Carlos didn't want to break away. He could feel Cecil's strong heartbeat against his ears and the breath on his hair was surprisingly cool. Despite having scales on his arms, neck and face, Cecil's skin was almost entirely smooth and uncalloused. One last hum of pleasure from the dragon's throat and they stepped back from one another. Carlos heard the door to his lab open, and Ivan call his name.

He smiled one last time at Cecil and proceeded to head back inside. Once he was gone, Cecil looked out the small window the garage door sported. The wind outside was blowing strongly.

'Sandstorm,' he thought.

As if on cue, he heard Ivan say "Hey, boss! The sand is totally going wicked fast out there! Cherry and Koschei almost got blown away!"

"Did not!!" an unfamiliar voice countered, most likely belonging to Koschei.

Cherry laughed, but it had a malicious intent to it. "Right, Ivan. 'Cuz you weren't crying and running for your life."

"I wasn't!"

"Oh, please," Koschei giggled. "Your scream put my little cousin's to shame and she's a six year old toddler girl!" Both Cherry and Koschei burst into a fit of laughter. Carlos got them back to working as he ate the piece of pizza they had brought, and Cecil wrapped his tail around himself, preparing for a small nap.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

He was kept awake by a very low, ominous hum. Turning his head, he found what looked to be a blue-black vortex on the side of the wall. 

'Odd...'

Giddy from lack of sleep and the fact that he was actually at Carlos's house, he felt confident enough to approach it. Pushing a hand through, he noted that it felt warm and almost inviting. So, he did whatever a good scientist would do, he figured. He stepped through.

...

It was filled with a dense fog, this place. Heavy mist. If you looked close enough, you could see faint shapes but Cecil didn't care about those. What he cared about was the white and pink light in front of him. But, with all good things come something to counter it. That thing was being thrown to the ground by what looked to be...himself? It was an exact replica, save for the black hair instead of white, yellow wings instead of purple and complete lack of eyes in all three sockets. 

The creature wrapped his arms around Cecil, who quickly tried to get the thing off, even going so far as to attempt to strangle him. He threw the man off, and continued to the unknown destination. 

He stepped in a deep puddle of blood.

'Oh my...oh my god...'

Cecil's eyes widened in utter terror as he looked at his surroundings. Blood and viscera hung off the walls and teeth scattered the floor. It was a radio studio, that much he knew, but the glass on the side of the booth was shattered and had dark red hand-shaped marks. He didn't want to draw attentions to himself as usual, but he had to get out of here. He shuffled up to the blood soaked microphone.

"Hello? ...where am I?"

He had to be in hell. That was the only explanation. Was this some sort of punishment for an unknown crime? He took one look at the far wall, seeing the vortex still there. As he was a self respecting radio host at best, he sent the listeners to the weather and jumped back in the vortex. He avoided all shapes and mysterious figures, fearing the man who had attacked him. 

He fell out on familiar ground, and also onto a familiar person. Once he gained his surroundings, he got off the scientist he had pinned to the floor by accident. 

"Cecil?" Carlos whispered. "Cecil what happened to you?!"

Cecil looked down to himself, realizing he was still covered in blood. "Oh...oh, Carlos..." 

That was all he could get out before he pitched forward into the unsuspecting arms of the terrified scientist.


	7. Mirrors

Cecil groaned as his entire body ached and protested to movement. He found himself lying in Carlos's arms with the faces of two other unfamiliar scientists looking down at him. The sandstorm had faded, as his ears no longer detected strong winds. He grunted once more, realizing he had unintentionally morphed back into his dragon form. So, to the other scientists, it was not Cecil. It was just a dangerous Night Fury, bloody and scared and shaking, being held close to Carlos. His three eyes opened slowly and stared at the other scientists. They gasped audibly, backing away a fraction. 

"It's alright," Carlos reassured them. "He won't hurt you."

They still looked unsure, but the woman with blue hair was the first to approach. She held her hand out slowly, and smiled as Cecil pressed his face into her open palm. The other man, who had blue-teal hair, came forward as well, mimicking the woman. Cecil used his intuition and made the conclusion that the man was Ivan and the woman was Koschei. If it were Cherry, Cecil had a bad feeling that things wouldn't be going so smoothly. Somehow that name sounded incredibly familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. 

"This can't possibly be who I think it is..."

"Koschei," Carlos said. "Ivan...meet the Night Fury. Or, as you two know him, the Radio Dragon."

Both of them took in a sharp breath. "Carlos!" Koschei snarled. "Do you have any idea what he'll do to you once he gains his bearings?! How'd he even get in here! ...and what happened to his wing?!"

Carlos held one hand up defensively, the other holding Cecil's head up off the floor. "Actually his wing injury was my fault. I lassoed him down from the sky with a spare electrical wire I found in the radio studio when I went to find him. Secondly, I brought him here. Third: he won't hurt you. Or me. Or anyone. He's not some heartless creature, just very self conscious and likes to stay hidden."

Koschei and Ivan shared a look, still looking paranoid.

"Please..." Carlos went on, and they both turned back to him. "Don't. Tell. Anyone. We don't want this getting out."

"Okay," Koschei replied. "I feel like that may be best for now, what with how popular that dragon is."

"Oh my god..." Ivan whispered. "Cherry!"

Koschei gasped once more and her eyes grew worried. "We can't let her find him! She'll go all kamikaze and none of us will make it out alive!" 

Why did that name sound so familiar?

"I'm keeping him here for the time being," Carlos explained. "I have the feeling she won't come in my garage. There's nothing in here that would interest her."

"I'm with you there. This place is kinda a dump, Car," Ivan joked. He smiled and turned to Koschei. "We should probably get back to work," he told her. She nodded, said goodbye, and they went back in the lab. Carlos and Cecil both let out a sigh in unison. Cecil went back to human form.

"Where exactly is Cherry right now?" he asked.

"She had to go back to her own house for some extra supplies," Carlos replied, stroking Cecil's hair softly. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she won't find you."

"I...have the feeling I did something to her but...I can't remember."

"Probably best."

Cecil decided to leave it at that. He focused on Carlos's heavy breathing and his arms clinging to him, despite the blood that stained his remaining scales. Speaking of which-

"What exactly happened, Cecil?" Carlos asked.

"I..."

"I come out here and I saw the end of your tail go through that vortex. Cecil, you idiot! Why on earth did you do that?!"

"I was just curious! I didn't know what was on the other side!" Cecil cried, tears beginning to form at the memory.

"Hey, don't cry, Cec," Carlos said quietly, rocking the dragon back and forth gently. "Don't cry. It's okay. I'm here now."

"I was in a studio, Carlos. A damnable studio. It was covered in blood and viscera and teeth and bloody handprint stains and-and I was met by someone in the middle of the vortex and he attacked me, Carlos! He tried to kill me! He jumped on me and I didn't know what to do and I-I-I wished I could have been back here and oh, foolish Cecil!" he snarled, hiding his face in one of his wings. He began breathing heavily and shaking. 

Carlos knew from experience that Cecil was having an anxiety attack. "Ok, Cecil look at me. Cec-Cecil!"

Cecil's face came into view, sweaty and pale. 

"Cecil, listen," Carlos commanded. He could tell by Cecil's eyes that the dragon was paying at least a bit of attention now to what he was saying. "I need you to breathe. Just breathe in and out, slowly." He coaxed Cecil into doing what he said, and after a few minutes the man had calmed down enough to speak.

"I was so scared."

"I know you were, Cecil. I know. But you're home now. You're here. I'm here."

"I-I know..." Cecil muttered sadly. He clung to Carlos, still half lying on the floor. It was getting dark outside, and Carlos could hear Koschei and Ivan bidding each other farewell and goodnight, and they hoped they would see each other in the morning the next day. Carlos heard the door close, and looked to Cecil.

"Cherry shouldn't be here for another few minutes, so we have time to move you to my room again, if you want..."

Cecil nodded. "If I can be next to you..."

...

They made it just in time. Once Cecil flopped on the floor, the front lab door opened and Cherry walked in. Carlos went and greeted her and she said she was just going to set up shop for tomorrow then head out before curfew fell. They said goodnight to each other, and Carlos rejoined Cecil in his room. Cecil was lying closer to the bed than the previous night. 

"Hey, Cecil?"

"Yes, perfect Carlos?"

"How exactly did you get to be...y'know...a dragon?"

Cecil huffed, sounding quite dejected. "I''ll tell you because I trust you won't tell anyone else."

Carlos heard the door downstairs creak open and waited for it to close before continuing. "Of course. You can trust me, Cec."

"Okay." Cecil's voice grew lower and soon fell into the familiar radio baritone. "I was only about fifteen. My brother and I were not close, but one day he disappeared and I was still worried for him. My mother told me not to worry, but then she was gone too. Family...right? I remember I was recording everything going on with a cassette player my mother had given me. I was destined to become the next Voice of Dragonvale, as it was stated on a plaque by City Hall. I had never really wondered why mother had covered all the mirrors in our house; I just assumed it was something people just...did. 

"Only when I confronted a suddenly and inexplicably uncovered mirror that I found out why. My mother had been trying to protect me. Something had lunged out of the mirror at me, wrapping its clawed hands around my throat and shoving me to the floor. I remember flashes of it; scrambling for dominance and power, calling for help...and failing. Whatever it was latched its teeth onto my throat. I tried to shake it off, but I did not succeed. I blacked out and the next thing I knew I was lying on a white tile floor.

"Doctors surrounded me and wherever I looked there was a blinding light shining down on me. I can recall earth-shattering, soul-crushing agony and waking up in the middle of the desert, now a grown man. I made my way back to the city and passed a mirror. Or rather, I looked in a window that was acting as a mirror. What I saw horrified me. I was a Night Fury dragon, the most feared of all the dragon community. So, ashamed and hideous, I fled into open desert. I still went back to the radio station once every other week to fulfill my duty, and because radio is only an audible medium of conveying news. 

"I've been hiding out in the sandy deserts around here ever since. I never stray far, for I love this little town. It will always be my home."

Carlos was stunned into silence. "Oh." Wow. Smooth. "I'm sorry, Cecil."

"Ahh, it's alright now..." Cecil muttered, not sounding convincing at all. 

"Hey, Cec...?"

"Yes?"

"Do you often move around a lot in your sleep?"

"No, why?"

"C'mere."

"Wh-what?"

"Come here."

Cecil lifted his head to look confusedly at Carlos. "Y-you mean...in the bed...next to you?"

"Yeah." Carlos smiled, patting the spot next to him. "If you face your wings away from me, we should be able to make it work."

"I...okay!"

Cecil clambered up to lie next to Carlos. He couldn't believe it was actually happening!

"Goodnight, Cecil. Sweet dreams, you nut."

Cecil smiled, closing his eyes. "Goodnight, Carlos. Goodnight."

Carlos dreamt of science. Cecil dreamt of vortexes.


	8. As It All Goes Wrong

The next day brought warmth and sunshine...just like every other day in this town. Carlos moved Cecil to the garage again, watching as the dragon fell back into sleep. He smiled, heading back in to make breakfast. Koschei, Ivan and Cherry were there already and beginning their experiments in the basement where the main lab was located. Koschei approached Carlos, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"So...what are we going to do with...you know who?"

"We won't be doing anything right now," Carlos said back in a hushed voice. "Simply keeping it all on the down low."

"You know Cherry's going to find out sooner or later. She's very attentive and flies under the radar and we can't keep this from her forever."

"I'd like to postpone it if I can. I have the feeling she'd go insane."

"Well, wouldn't you? Your boyfriend is brutally murdered by a dragon that you later find is being smuggled into your lab right under your nose."

"I...I don't think Cecil has the capacity to murder someone in cold blood."

Koschei just looked at him with a look that almost said pity. "Carlos...he may be part human but he's still mostly dragon. Sure, it's a mystery as to how but his dragon instincts simply take over sometimes."

Carlos was silent. What was there to say? 

"I know you don't want to believe me," Koschei went on. "But you need to realize that he's an animal now; a part of nature that just shouldn't be messed with. He should be left alone like he wants to be. Would you pick up a stray raccoon off the street, stick it in clothes and call it your best friend?"

"Koschei," Carlos interjected. "You're missing a key point. Yes, Cecil is an animal but he's also part human. That's my main focus at the moment. Not only that, but he's hurt badly and I can't shove him off into the streets of Dragonvale like this."

"But maybe that's what he wants."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Why else would he have stayed completely hidden and cut off from the rest of the world for so long? Carlos-" When Koschei said his name, she twisted his face to force him to look at her. "-you need to have a talk with him about this. You can't keep going on like this. It's the principle that on the outside, he may be a sweet thing who is easily loveable but on the inside he's a monster."

Carlos heard a sharp intake of breath and turned to see Cecil, fully dragon, staring at the two of them with a sad expression. His eyes were wide and he looked like a kicked kitten.

"Cecil-"

He made a small noise that Carlos translated as both 'monster?' and 'why?' That was the big one. Why? Why? Why? Why would you say that? Why do you agree with her? Why are you doing this to me? Carlos rushed forward, trying to get to Cecil before more damage could be done. Just as he began moving and forming an apology and reassurance, Cecil backed away, eyes growing furious, letting a powerful roar escape his jaws. His eyes were watery and Carlos instantly felt horrible.

Cecil flapped his bad wing, hissing in the pain it still caused, but managed to dislodge the bandages. He stretched it to its full 10 foot capacity, almost hitting the far wall, and retracted it again, rushing to the garage once more. 

"Cecil!" Carlos cried, sprinting to the garage only to find Cecil trying to fit through the window. "Hey!" He snatched one of the Night Fury's hind legs and tugged hard. This brought him to the floor with a heavy, distraught dragon on top of him. Scales tore his clothes and skin as Cecil flipped over and pinned the scientist to the concrete floor. Carlos cried out in pain, looking the dragon right in the eyes.

"Cecil, listen..." he began slowly, not making any sudden movements. He didn't really want to be on the receiving end of plasma. This time he knew that, considering how close the proximity between the two was, there was no way he'd dodge it. Being held to the floor didn't help, either. "I know you're upset. I know. But please, you have to believe me when I say I was never agreeing with Koschei. You're amazing, Cec. You're beautiful and fantastic and I care a lot about you."

Cecil's eyes were still teary and narrowed, but his breathing had calmed down and it almost felt as if he was lifting some of his weight off Carlos. "I don't want to see you hurt," Carlos continued. "Because to me you're so much more than a dragon. More than a human. You're everything."

The three were silent, save for Koschei shifting her weight back and forth. Cecil slowly morphed back to human form, finally releasing the tears from his eyes. "Y-you really mean that?"

Carlos smiled. "Of course I do, Cecil. I...well...I lo-"

He was interrupted by a loud bang and turned to see a horrific sight. Koschei was cowering with Ivan standing protectively in front of her. They were both shaking terribly and had their eyes locked on the doorway. Carlos glanced to where they were looking, and saw himself reflected in furious and hurt-looking green eyes. 

It was Cherry.

"Oh my god..." Carlos murmured under his breath. "Oh, no..." 

Before he could emit another word, however, Cherry screamed in a way that could only be described as a war cry, clutching a crowbar and running up to Cecil. He transformed back into dragon form but still didn't look very offensive. He actually cowered behind Carlos who jolted up and tried to stop his rampaging coworker. He put an arm up to defend both him and Cecil and her crowbar came crashing down on him with brute force. Everyone but Cherry winced, Carlos screaming in sudden, indescribable agony as they heard the bones in his arm shatter. Cherry took a step back, looking mildly shocked at what she'd just done. Obviously she hadn't planned on Carlos to defend Cecil like he had.

Carlos was holding his broken and bloodied arm close to his body, sweating and panting, yet still standing in front of the dragon. The said creature was beginning to glow as the plasma ran through his body. It was most likely a defense mechanism of some sort. Cherry was panting and holding the now blood-stained crowbar defensively in front of her. "My ideal weapon is a bread knife," she huffed. "But I had to make do."

"Ah...Ch-Cherry...don't..." was all Carlos could get out in his haze of pain as Cherry approached once more. 

Cecil reared up, bounding in front of Carlos and hissing threateningly. Although Carlos didn't want Cecil to be in any danger, a) he knew the dragon was capable of handling this and b) he was in so much pain his vision was beginning to go blurry and he wouldn't be able to take another hit like that. 

"You..." Cherry hissed, low under her breath. "Your fault."

Cecil let his ears flatten on his head and if he didn't look so much like a black and purple dragon Carlos would probably mistake him for an oversized housecat. He unsheathed his claws and snarled at the pink haired woman, who just hissed back mockingly, completely unphased.

"You killed him..." she said. "I saw his body. It had been singed by plasma."

Cecil's expression went from angry to a bit curious, as though he were trying his best to figure something out.

"Remember? Black hair. Green eyes. He tried to challenge you and you just shot him down on the spot."

Then Cecil's eyes widened with understanding. He knew. He now figured out just what made Cherry look so familiar. He had murdered her boyfriend and lover. None of them could make another move as Cherry made to crack the crowbar down on Cecil's head once more. He met it with his teeth in midair, wrenching it out of her grip. So, she just used her fists instead. 

"Cherry please stop!" Ivan yelled. 

Surprisingly, that did the trick. She turned to the teal haired man with an expression that had revenge written all over it. Carlos sighed softly. Oh, how had things gone so wrong?

"I have to avenge his death, Ivy!" Cherry growled.

"No, you don't," Ivan responded. "And you know how I hate when people call me that! Cherry...you need to let it go. It's been two years. I know you two were close but...this isn't what he would want. I know that and I know you know that as well."

Cherry was silent, as though weighing her options. Retreat and admit defeat or continue and possibly get ripped apart by a dragon defending someone she had hurt already. The fight left her eyes, almost in the same way it had left Cecil's eyes when he accepted Carlos's help, and she back away.

"This isn't over, science man," he said in a low tone, aiming it directly at Carlos.

That was the last thing he heard before Cecil was wrapping his body around him and Koschei and Ivan began fussing over him. Their faces grew fuzzy and dark and Carlos succumbed to the darkness of pain and exhaustion.


	9. Earl Harlan's Reminder

Oh, no.

No, no, no, no, no.

How had this all happened? 

Please, no.

Not him.

Cecil was pacing back and forth in the living room of Carlos's living area and was slowly creating a small dent in the carpet. He didn't mean to, but not being able to see his beloved scientist was causing him to be antsy. Koschei and Ivan had forced Cecil to wait and not follow them into Carlos's room as they assessed the full damage Cherry had actually managed to cause. Cecil was too anxious to even think of going to human form to be able to fit, but as long as he didn't frustratedly unfold his wings he knew he would be clear of any precious objects. He didn't want to go insane again and smash another picture frame. His third eye was closed, as he didn't want to take any chances of possibly glimpsing Carlos, lying helpless.

Cecil wished he could go and fly around for a bit, as he always did when distraught, but knew that was impossible. First off, his wing was still damaged. Not as bad, since dragons healed faster than normal humans, but it still ached whenever he moved it. He knew it was just stiff and sore and prayed that one of these days he'd be able to stretch it out. It had felt nice doing so for a moment when he was angry at Carlos, thinking the scientist had called him a monster. At that thought, Cecil instantly felt guilty. If he hadn't flown off the handle (pun completely intended) Carlos probably would be just fine, doing science like he normally does, and Cherry would still be in the dark about Cecil's presence in her part-time home.

Cecil sat dejectedly on the floor, giving his legs a rest and letting his ears flop back on his head. He knew he must be such a sorry sight to see right at the moment, but he didn't care about how presentable he looked. He only cared about his scientist.

His scientist

His.

Yes. His.

He would have to have a conversation about that with Carlos later. Surely letting Cecil sleep next to him had to mean something...right? Not long after he stopped pacing, he heard Carlos's door open and Ivan walk up to him slowly. He sat on the couch right in front of Cecil, who turned to his human self to talk with the co-scientist.

"Listen," Ivan began. But he stopped once he saw tears slowly slide down Cecil's face. Instead of speaking, he reached out and gently wiped them away. It was such a 'Carlos thing' to do that it only brought on more. "Shh," Ivan hushed him softly. 

"How is he?" Cecil managed to choke out. 

Ivan sat back, a sad look on his face. "You won't like what I have to tell you, but you and him are close apparently, or so he mumbled." Cecil instantly looked concerned, remaining scales glowing faintly. "Koschei and I studied to be in the medical field before we switched over to chemistry. Being doctors just didn't seem to suit us very much. Good thing, too. From what we examined, Cherry did quite a number on Carlos.

"His arm is essentially cracked in half, almost like your wing there. The elbow joint was dislocated, but we fixed that up pretty well. He has multiple fractures in his wrist and hand. From what we gathered, the initial contact cracked the radius bone and the aftershock it caused is responsible for the fractures and dislocations. As for the rest of his body, the only thing we found were a few cracks in his ribcage, which was most likely from when the force of the blow reached that point and he twisted at a weird angle."

Cecil sat all the way on the floor, holding his knees to his chest and semi-covering himself forlornly with his wings. "Will...will he be alright?"

Ivan sighed and blinked slowly. "We expect he will be, but we're going to need to keep monitoring him. But, since we're not supposed to be here at night, that's where we need you to come in. What I need you to do is, at night, keep an eye on him. You can still sleep, of course, and don't deliberately wake him up to ask how he's doing. The one thing he needs right now is good sleep and nourishment, which is something we can provide. You just need to report to us how he does and if you notice anything out of the ordinary beside this entire situation. Can you do that?"

"Oh, yes!" Cecil said, snapping to attention. "If it will help Carlos I will gladly do it!"

"Good." Ivan stood. "Now...Koschei didn't like this idea but I think it's necessary...would you like to see him?"

Cecil almost fell over from his wings being top-heavy when he stood, and Ivan had to support him to keep him on his feet. When Cecil was able to stay up, he dusted himself off, chastising himself for his lack of self control. He followed Ivan up to Carlos's room, mentally bracing himself. When he walked in, he expected something gruesome but that wasn't the case. It was just Koschei sitting by Carlos who was lying in bed and tightly wrapping and stabilizing his arm. Koschei shot a glance to Ivan, who, in turn, raise his hands in a 'don't blame me' sort of gesture. 

Cecil didn't need an invitation to approach the bed. He gently rested his hand on Carlos's good arm, as the was the side of the bed he sat by. He leaned his head against the mattress, sighing heavily. Koschei and Ivan left him to be with his Carlos alone, and closed the door after themselves. He heard them shuffling down the hallway, murmuring to one another about what to do with Cherry. Cecil just kept stroking Carlos's hand in an attempt to curve some emotional pain he might be going through.

He heard a very faint, incredibly weak cough. Kneeling, he saw Carlos's head turn slowly toward him. "Cec...? 

Cecil almost started sobbing again as he noted how quiet Carlos's oaky voice was now. He could hear the pain the scientist was feeling simply in that one word. 

"Carlos! Oh, Carlos, I-" Cecil stopped himself and forced his voice to quiet down to a tone that wouldn't hurt Carlos's sensitive ears. "I was so scared."

"I know, Cecil," Carlos whispered. "I'm...sorry about what happened..."

Cecil couldn't help the fit of laughter that escaped him. "Carlos, you're the one in bed with a shattered arm and you're apologizing to me? You were just protecting me...something I don't deserve."

"Can we please...have that conversation...another day?" Carlos breathed softly. "I don't feel like arguing."

"Noted," Cecil replied. "I...I'm not sure what else to say. How are you feeling now?"

Carlos smiled weakly. "Hah...numb with the painkillers that were injected into my bloodstream."

"I suppose that's better than being in pain."

"Is...is this what your wing felt like?"

Cecil looked to a piece of lint on the floor. "Yes...but don't feel bad about that!" he replied hastily, shaking his head. "It's alright now. Just aches a bit."

Carlos smiled, or tried to, once more. Cecil heard him sigh, and knew that if he didn't have such keen hearing he wouldn't have picked up on it. "Get some rest, Carlos."

"Okay..." Carlos whispered quietly. "Cecil?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Can you...keep talking?"

"About what?"

"Anything."

Cecil smiled warmly. "Okay. Where to begin...ah! I could tell you the story of and old friend I once had." He made sure to keep his voice low and quiet, as he knew Carlos needed some sort of white noise to fall asleep in relative comfort now. "His name was Earl Harlan. We were Boy Scouts together, and he would always be there for me to talk to if I needed someone. Soon we were recruited to the rank of Fear Scout, but that's when I had my...accident. Anyway, we had some really great times; running around and trying to escape librarians on our annual field trip to the library, looking at the stars and helping each other through the existential crises it would cause, trying to solve my mother's prophetic visions. Ahh, good times. But after my incident with the mirror, we lost touch with each other for whatever reason.

"I think Earl just didn't want to be with a dragon. He...he was the one I attempted the whole 'true love's kiss' and, well, you can see how well that turned out. But I remember him turning his back and telling me 'we could've had something, Cecil. Always remember that.' I have never forgotten."

Cecil stopped, hearing Carlos snoring softly. He held onto his hand and watched him sleep, faithful to his new task set by Ivan and Koschei. As he watched, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if it were Earl instead of Carlos, but Cecil no longer wanted Earl. He only wanted his beautiful, perfect scientist. 

But he could not deny that every day, Cecil truly never forgot. 

'We could have had something, Cecil. Always remember that.'


	10. Steve and Hyorge

Carlos was out on the street, lying on the pavement in an alleyway facedown. Slowly opening his eyes he tried to look around but could barely lift his head. He soon found out that was caused by a hand keeping his head pinned to the asphalt. His cheek was burning from the heat and he strained to see who was holding him down. He was met with someone unfamiliar. His hair was a reddish-orange and he had freckles all over his cheeks. He was smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes. A massive, red and yellow dragon stood behind him like a massive shadow, and behind it was a blazing white light.

Carlos trembled, sensing he was in a great amount of danger. At least with all the sedatives and painkillers Koschei and Ivan had given him he didn't notice the pain in his arm as much. But...it shouldn't have healed so quickly. It must just be a Night Vale thing. 

"Hello, Scientist," the man said, his dragon hissing threateningly right after. His voice was unlike anything Carlos had ever heard. It was scratchy and worn out and sounded like it hadn't been used in quite a while. His eyes narrowed.

"Who...are you?" Carlos panted, burnt side of his face beginning to go numb. 

The pressure on his head increased as the man shoved down with more force. "Don't you know?!" he snarled, his dragon doing the same. "Cecil was telling you all about me. Don't tell me you fell asleep right away?"

Carlos's eyes widened in understanding. "Earl?"

"Took you long enough."

"What are you doing? What did I do?"

"Cecil is mine and always will be!" Earl shrieked, the dragon behind him rearing up and blocking out the sun as the light grew ever brighter.

Carlos screamed, attempting to cover his head from the blast of fire that would burn him into the ground. It never came. He didn't dare move, for he felt hands trying to move his own from his face. He didn't really want to look at Earl anymore...or his dragon. 

"I will make you regret everything!" Earl shouted at him.

"No!!" Carlos cried, pleading with the former scout to spare him and apologizing over and over for...what, exactly? He had no idea what he'd done wrong but it must have been a big deal. The hands didn't let up and Carlos felt the pain his arm slowly build and build until it became unbearable. 

"Carlos, please! Please!" 

The scientist's eyes snapped open and was met with Cecil's concerned expression right in his face. His mind first registered it as Earl, however, considering that his face was still branded into Carlos's mind. He shrieked,violently shoving Cecil away and wrenching his arm. He clutched it so fiercely the tendons in his hands were clearly visible. He sat and caught his breath as Koschei and Ivan ran in; Cecil was still dazedly trying to get off the floor.

"Carlos!" Ivan cried. "What happened?"

"I..." Carlos felt his throat burn from speaking, and knew he had to've yelled near the end of that. "I guess I had a nightmare..."

"That's a natural side effect with the sedatives we gave you," Koschei began timidly. "We-"

She was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang downstairs and the sound of glass breaking. She looked to Ivan, who signaled her to go, and left the room quickly shouting something about how if Cherry had made a mess of things she was going to "kick her butt in ways that hadn't even been invented yet because they'd been working on that for days." Carlos sighed. "I'm sorry." He looked to his right, seeing a plate of...brownies? Scones? ...cookies, maybe? "Uhh..."

He heard Cecil snarl next to him. "My apologies, perfect Carlos," he hissed. "Ivan insisted I bring them to you."

"Who made them?"

Ivan and Cecil shared a look, with Cecil appearing quite annoyed, and the dragon turned back to Carlos. "Steve Carlsberg..." he muttered under his breath.

"Who's that?" Carlos asked.

"Terrible-"

"He's a bit of the town rival, you could say," Ivan interrupted. "Cecil here doesn't like him too much and since he has so much authority no one else does either. It's probably an inherited knowledge at this point. No one likes his dragon either. They're both jerks."

"Not nearly as jerk-like as that Apache Tracker," Cecil said.

"Agreed."

"Why do people hate him so much?" Carlos inquired, trying to do anything to get his mind off his arm. "What did he do?"

"He's just a jerk individual in general," Cecil replied. "He does stupid things and questions events that are all part of daily life here. Like, so what if we don't have water in the desert? I'm not just going to let Steve ruin this town by denying Dragonvale a drawbridge when he can't even care for a tan Corolla!" 

Carlos shot a confused look at Ivan who, in turn, gave him an expression that screamed 'just don't ask.'

"And his dragon's no better!" Cecil continued. "Always hanging around him like a shadow and whispering in his ear. It's unnerving."

"Who's his dragon?" Carlos asked.

Ivan and Cecil looked at each other with suddenly amused expressions. Before either of them could speak Cecil burst into laughter. "H-his dragon's name is Hyorge!!"

Carlos's expression went to confused to incredibly confused. "...Hyorge?"

Ivan grinned as Cecil rolled around on the floor. "It's spelled G-E-O-R-G-E, like George, but for whatever reason he pronounces it as Hyorge."

"I-it sounds like a name you would give to a dolphin!" Cecil laughed.

"A dolphin swing at a playground!" Ivan cut in, adding onto the sentence.

"By a lake!"

"With a creepy stare!" 

"And it was held up by a rope!"

"But the rope was exposed on its belly!"

"So it looks like it has two mouths and its really unnerving!"

"But the longer you look at it the ever-so-cuter it gets!"

Now Ivan was on the floor, too, and both men were crying of laughter. "His dragon actually has two mouths!" Cecil screeched.

That's what got Carlos to begin to giggle. He was just trying to imagine a dragon flying around with two mouths on its face, and a rider acting like it was the most normal thing in the world. Soon the three of them were all out of breath, and Carlos felt it safe to ask whether or not the brownies were okay to eat.

"Not by my standards," Cecil groaned.

Ivan nodded softly. "I tested them before bringing them up here."

Carlos slowly slid back onto the pillows, Ivan taking a look at his arm. "You didn't do any more damage to it, just jostled it a bit," he reported. "But you should lie still for a while until it comes time to give you more pain medication."

"Okay," Carlos nodded. He felt Cecil take his good hand and they intertwined their fingers. Once Ivan had made his leave to go find Koschei and Cherry, the scientist looked to the dragon.

"...did he seriously name his dragon Hyorge?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyorge is a massive inside joke, and I wouldn't look too much into it, really. Just accept the concept that in this context he is a two-mouthed dragon that belongs to a jerk.


	11. Following the Night Fury

Cecil and Carlos snickered over Hyorge for a bit longer until Ivan ran up to stairs and burst in the room. "They're gone!"

"Gone?" Carlos asked.

"Cherry and Koschei!" Ivan cried. "Gone! There were police outside the door and they were pushing them into a car and drove off and I don't know where!"

Carlos put his hands up, palms facing the distraught man. "Calm down, Ivan, and tell us slowly what happened."

Ivan took a few deep breaths. "Okay. So I went downstairs to check on the girls. When I got there the lab was completely empty, so I checked upstairs. I heard commotion outside and when I looked I saw Cherry beating down an officer that had Koschei in his grip. Once a few others managed to wrangle Cherry to the ground, they injected sedatives into her and Koschei and just drove off with them!"

Carlos and Cecil looked to each other. "Any idea as to where?"

"I can look for them."

Both scientists looked, shocked, to the dragon. His eyes were confident.

"Cecil..." Carlos began. "I thought you didn't want to be seen. My impression of you is someone who prefers to stay secluded."

Cecil lowered his head. "Yes, Carlos. I do prefer to stay secluded. But I did used to have friends and I will do what I can to try and help them. That is what I have always lived by."

"You would do that...let yourself be seen by more than a fleeting glance...to help us..." Ivan said. 

Cecil nodded. "Now before we have the chance to get sappy, tell me which way the officers took them."

...

Cecil couldn't believe he was doing this. His entire reputation was solidly built now on not being seen and he was going to go out in open daylight and look for two supposed criminals of the law. He could understand that Cherry would have probably done something, but...why would they take Koschei, too?

Cecil had agreed with Carlos and Ivan that he would hide in the shadows of the little town, which would not be hard seeing as the Night Fury would be all black. The only hard part Cecil could think of was keeping his tail and wings close to him. He would follow the officers' scent trail and that would hopefully lead him to where Cherry and Koschei were being held. From there he was go to human form and try to find out what they were doing with her. Carlos and Ivan would not be far behind him, as they all agreed that it would probably be a bad idea for Cecil to go out alone. 

They knew the Sheriff's Secret Police wouldn't bother them too much. They tended to be a bit laid back. 

"You ready, Cec?" Carlos asked. Ivan had wrapped his bad arm in extra padding and it was being held by a splint on his shoulder. Unless something absolutely catastrophic happened it would probably be fine.

Cecil nodded, taking a deep breath. "What if anyone sees me?"

"Nod to them. Acknowledge their presence. Keep moving."

Another nod. "Carlos..."

"Yeah?"

"In case anything happens...I really care about you."

Carlos rested his forehead on Cecil's. "I really care about you, too."

"We have to get moving," Ivan interrupted. "Not to be a debby downer here but who knows what they could be doing to Cherry and Koschei?" 

Carlos looked once more to Cecil. "Good luck."

Cecil morphed into his Night Fury form, slowly easing out the door. Carlos noticed that his wing looked much better and seemed to be causing no more pain. There was a small notch where it had broken, but he assumed it would be there forever. He turned to Ivan once Cecil had gone.

"How are we going to follow him?" he asked.

Ivan was already at the door. "We go on foot. It's the easiest and fastest way and there's less of a chance that we'll be seen."

"We won't be able to go very fast because of my arm..."

"I know. But I've got everything we might need for that."

Indeed, he was carrying a small backpack that Carlos assumed had painkillers, water bottles and pins in case the splint came undone. Carlos followed Ivan out of the front door.

"Oi!" a voice called from in the bushes.

"Hey, Jase," Ivan said, aiming it at the officer hiding there. "Whatcha need?"

"You're going after those girls?"

"Yeah. Do you know where they are?"

"No, but I do know that the men who took them are incredibly dangerous. I'd keep each other in sight, and I'd also follow the Radio Dragon as fast and efficiently as you possibly can."

It was no surprise the officer knew about Cecil. It was his job, after all. Ivan thanked him for the advice and he and Carlos set off to follow the Night Fury.

...

'One foot after the other, Cecil...you can do this...'

Cecil was occupying his time by giving himself pep talks. He had managed to stay hidden so far, moving through alleyways and keeping to the dark. He made sure to squint all three of his eyes to reduce light from the glow they produced. He had been spotted by a few officers, but they nodded to each other and Cecil went on his way just as Carlos had instructed him to do. It was only when he began to lose the scent that disaster struck.

Cecil was stepping into a new alleyway and twilight was falling late, as it always did in Dragonvale. Without warning two ropes were thrown over his back, pinning him to the ground and cutting off the use of his wings. He cried out but was silenced when a muzzle was forced onto his mouth. He heard Carlos yelling for him but his voice was silenced, as was Ivan's. Cecil hissed in pain as the ropes were tightened and dug into his flesh. All three eyes widened in fear and confusion as he saw the man who were doing this were officers. But their uniforms were not purple.

They were a blazing yellow.


	12. DragonBluffs

Blinding, blinding light. Cecil could hardly open his eyes, let alone register what they were seeing. He groaned, noticing that he was in human form. He willed himself to change, but...couldn't. Literally. He was incapable of making his features morph into those of a dragon. 

"H-hello?" he called as he finally adjusted. He was in what looked to be his own radio studio but...no, this couldn't be right. If it were his studio, then why was someone else at the microphone? No, not someone else. Him. But not him...it dawned on him suddenly that he'd seen this man elsewhere. It was the man in the sandstorm. "You..." he hissed.

The man turned, putting his eyeless gaze on Cecil. "Ah," he said in an overly cheery voice. "You're awake!" He made to move toward Cecil. "Hi! I'm Kev-"

"You stay away!" Cecil snarled, still attempting to morph back to dragon form. 

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kev stated. 

Just as he had said it, Cecil experienced an incredibly forceful jolt of agonizing electricity run through his body. He cried out, falling to a heap on the floor.

"If you try to change, it'll shock you," Kev continued.

"P-paging Doctor Obvious..." Cecil stuttered. "Okay, Kev, tell me-"

"Kevin."

"Uh?"

"My name is Kevin. Not Kev. Definitely not Kev."

"Okay, fine. Tell me, Kevin...what are you doing in my studio?"

Kevin laughed at this; a throaty sound that sounded both pleased and strained. "You mean our studio, silly Cecil!" he said.

"Wh-..."

"Oh, yes. Strexcorp, our parent company, has insisted that I move here and share your radio studio so as to unite our two little towns?"

"Where are you from, again?" 

"Why, DragonBluffs of course!" 

Cecil gasped. "No!" DragonBluffs was Dragonvale's ultimate rival town. Well, really it was the only town within miles of the little place in the middle of the desert. "Get out of my chair!" He lunged forward only to be held back by chains around his wrist and ankles that he was surprised he hadn't noticed. His wings were tied to his body, preventing him from getting away or attempting any sort of violence. His tail had been pinned to the floor. He growled in frustration and anger which only earned another bark-laugh from Kevin. 

"But this is my chair as well, Cecil!"

"It's got the Dragonvale logo on it!" Indeed, on the back, the purple fabric was decorated with a single, lidless eye design; a crescent moon for the pupil and two wings sprouting from each side. To Cecil's horror, it no longer said 'Dragonvale.' Now it said 'The Greater DragonBluffs Metropolitan Area' in a red liquid that looked much too similar to fresh blood. 

"Oh, do you like it?" Kevin asked, seeing that Cecil was eyeing the new design. "I did it myself. I'm quite proud of it. I think my grandmother would be proud as well, considering her motto is 'reach your fullest productive potential!'"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Cecil, Cecil, Cecil," Kevin cooed, almost as though he were speaking to a misbehaving child. "You'll find out soon enough." He produced a large saw from a desk drawer. Cecil had no idea that was in there. He got up out of the vandalized chair and slowly walked to Cecil, who was backing up step by step until his spine his the far wall. "But for now," Kevin went on, holding the saw up. "This studio is much, much too plain. I think it's time to redecorate."

...

"Koschei? Koschei!"

A certain pink-haired woman was shaking the blob in the corner of the cell with the blue hair. 

"Koschei please wake up!"

The other woman moaned low in her throat, slowly propping herself up on her elbows. "Cherry?"

Cherry embraced her friend, shaking. "Oh, thank god you're alright. Or...relatively alright, given the circumstances."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay..." Koschei said, testing her body. Nothing broken, nothing missing and, most important, nothing added. She sat back and rested her back on the wall. "Just tired."

Cherry joined her. "Same."

After a few moments they heard shuffling in the other side of the room. Cherry braced herself in front of Koschei, who moved closer to the wall as though the thing could protect her from a possible attack. Cherry hissed as the figure grew nearer, limping slightly.

"Hey, hey, hey!" the stranger said, holding one hand up. The other hung loosely at his side.

Cherry lowered her defenses, as did Koschei. 

"Carlos?"

"Yeah..." Carlos mumbled through his haze of pain. The officers who'd captured him were certainly not gentle with his arm. Now the splint was gone and the painkillers had worn off and the scientist was absolutely miserable. He knelt on the floor again, holding his arm to his body. Cherry noticed and stepped back and Koschei went to examine him. She moved his arm to a position that would be most comfortable. "Try and keep it here for as long as you can. By that I mean the bones need your help to mend now, since the splint is gone."

Carlos, arm awkwardly placed by his side, frowned. "So I have to keep my arm here until the bones heal?" 

"Just as long as you possibly can."

Carlos winced as he experienced a sudden body shiver. "Please tell me you have painkillers..." he groaned.

Koschei looked sad. "I'm sorry, but no, I don't. Next time they bring our food I can ask them for some, if you like..."

"Please."

Cherry was watching the exchange from afar. She felt guilty for doing what she did to Carlos, but it was his own fault for getting in her way. She stood, making her way over to them. "So now what?" she snarled. "We're trapped in here, Cecil is out who-knows-where probably causing havoc, we have no idea what happened to Ivan and I'm freaking starving. I can't live off bread bits and a Dixie cup of water!"

Koschei placed a hand on Cherry's shoulder. "Calm down, dear," she said. "It'll be alright."

"You and I both know that's a complete and utter lie."

The blue haired scientist looked to the ground. "It may be a lie...but at least it's hope."

"Since when has hope done any good?" Cherry muttered quietly under her breath. Carlos had expected to hear a condescending tone somewhere in there but, to his surprise, he heard only sadness. No, not sadness. Complete surrender. If Carlos didn't know any better, he would think Cherry defeated. But he knew that she wouldn't go out that easily and would never give in to command.

"It'll be alright for now then, Cherry," Carlos wheezed through his pain.

Cherry looked to him with watery eyes.

"Sure, it'll be alright now...but what about later? Who knows if we'll even be alive tomorrow?"

"I'm sure we will be," Koschei assured the two of them. It almost sounded as though she was mainly trying to convince herself, and Carlos didn't blame her. But he just couldn't get Cherry's words out of his mind.

What if they really weren't going to be alive tomorrow?


	13. Discourse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been 3 years.
> 
> 3 years since I've last updated this, and now I'm an English major in college. I haven't listened to Night Vale in almost a year now, and frankly don't know exactly what happened before this point in the story. I kinda just skimmed it. But, I felt a rejuvenation in motivation to continue this for whatever reason, so I hope it's up to standard and worth waiting 3 years for. That's unlikely to happen again, as I'm pretty invested in this story. The upload schedule will still be scattered, but I'll do my best not to let it drag out.
> 
> Also, can you notice my incredible improvement in writing?
> 
> EDIT: this story is now officially dedicated to both Elyse and Umbreon, for holding onto hope for those 3 years. You're the real MVP and it means way more than I can say <3

Cecil bared his teeth in a snarl, Kevin getting ever closer to him. He wanted to shift to Night Fury, but knew it wouldn’t be advantageous to do so. He had to take up as little space as possible, and that was already difficult enough with his wings and tail. Kevin backed him into a corner, his spine hitting the corner of the desk, and raised the saw above his head. Cecil desperately brought a hand up to guard his face, instead giving Kevin a perfect target. The blade sliced into flesh, causing the Dragonvale Radio Host to cry out in pain. He felt the slice in his palm before being thrown back to smash against the wall.

He pushed himself up carefully with his uninjured hand, looking up at Kevin. His bloody hand was now being pressed to his stomach in an attempt to keep from losing more blood than necessary. Panting, he saw Kevin’s shoe in front of his nose.

“What a show,” the other Host hissed, that horrifying grin still plastered to his face. Did this creature ever not smile?

“You’re insane,” Cecil spat.

“What about it?” Kevin countered. “I am productive.”

“Is that all you care about?” Cecil winced as he heard his own fear and desperation come through his words.

Kevin chuckled. “Oh yes,” he said, swinging his saw in circles on a finger. Cecil backed further against the wall, now uncomfortably curled into a ball. “If things are not productive, nothing gets done, and no one is happy.”

“You’re sick!” Cecil cried as the saw came down once more. This time hitting its initial target, it ripped through his face diagonally. A horrible scream resounded off of the soundproof walls, and Cecil knew from the burning in his throat that it had come from his own mouth. Kevin roughly stepped down on his uninjured hand that still rested on the floor, causing Cecil to groan and weakly attempt to pull away.

“You can’t really be getting any enjoyment from this!”

“On the contrary, Fury!” Kevin laughed. “This is what I was built for!”

Cecil’s eyes widened at that, but before his thoughts could travel any further his head was knocked backward against the wall and stars danced in front of his eyes. Exhausted and bleeding, he slumped to the floor. Kevin laughed quietly, Cecil still able to hear it through the ringing in his ears. He felt his wing turn backward in an unnatural position, feeling the bone had shattered in the weak spot Carlos had caught with the wire seemingly so long ago. Too tired to even wince, he simply lie still on the floor, surrounded by blood and organs that were not his own.

Kevin folded his hands behind his back, bending at the waist to look down at his counterpart. “Hey Cecil, guess what?”

Cecil turned his eyes up.

_“Kill your double._

Cecil’s eyes shut tightly at that as he felt the rush of air from Kevin’s arms bringing the saw down for the final time. He twisted his torso, rolling out of the way, agony shooting up his spine. Crying out, he attempted to push himself up off the floor only to discover Kevin had pinned his wing to the ground.

“You’re not going anywhere, Palmer!”

Cecil stopped at that. He hadn’t heard his last name in what felt like forever. In his moment of shock, he unknowingly let his guard down and Kevin took his chance to crack his forehead directly on the purple man’s. Cecil’s eyes rolled back as he weakly put his hands out to stop his fall. His tired elbows crumpled under the weight of his body, but he forced himself to shake the fuzziness from his head and push upward again.

He knew his body couldn’t do this forever; even with his added dragon strength, and he begged internally for the agony to stop. He knew, however, he would never let Kevin hear him plead. He picked up the sound of said yellow Host clicking his tongue at him.

“I really thought you would last longer, Cecil,” he said in his disgustingly sweet voice.

“Fuck you,” Cecil growled, spitting blood. He assumed he had a cracked rib, and the fact that it hurt to breathe probably wasn’t the best sign.

“Maybe later if you play your cards right,” Kevin laughed, glee clearly showing on his face.

Cecil shut his eyes and grit his teeth against the scream of agony threatening to claw its way up his throat. He couldn’t just stay here on the ground, and he knew what he needed to do. He locked his jaw to the point that it ached, shoving his body upward. He bit back a scream as he felt his delicate wing connectors tear. The saw was embedded into the ground, and there was no other option if Cecil wanted to escape. Kevin hardly had time to react as Cecil pulled as hard as he could, his wing splitting in the middle, swinging backward. The tear had put pressure on the broken bone, damaging it further, and the soft wing connectors were hanging in two pieces from the shredded ligaments.

Cecil screamed, all three eyes glowing purple. He swung his fist back, adrenaline rushing through him. He felt sick satisfaction as he felt his fist connect with Kevin’s face, bones crunching. After breaking the yellow Host’s nose, he used brute force to run Kevin into the desk and, subsequently, the glass behind it. The two Hosts fell through the broken glass, Cecil landing on top of Kevin. They scuffled in the glass shards for a few moments, their skin getting cut by the sharp edges. Before long, Cecil used Kevin’s utter confusion to his advantage, using the last bit of energy to throw him through the glass again before taking off. He kept his damaged wing close to his side, moaning in agony.

Luckily, the Station was something he knew like the back of his hand. He couldn’t find the strength to shift to his dragon form, opting to push his human body to its limit. He opened his wings as far as they would go, willing them to catch air underneath them. He knew, though, that only one wing would be up to the challenge, and it wouldn’t carry him very far. Screaming, he forced his legs onward as fast as they would go, his lungs burning and injuries stinging. Once out of range of Dragonvale city limits, he collapsed in the sand, panting hard. Letting loose one last scream of agony, he inhaled dust as the world went black.


End file.
